The second day started at mid-afternoon, with Sotz’ doing the honors. Here’s a band that’s been improving their performance at every show, and consequently winning over more fans – 4:30 p.m. and a large number of people ready to shout out and mosh around their support. Without any kind of disrespect for previous line-ups, I believe the current one is the most efficient in living up to the aggressive impact the band yearns for their sound.
I’m not sure if the crowd was singing along – Dan Vesca is pretty hard to follow up – but they clearly recognized the tracks off the EP “Tzak’ Sotz’” and the recent single “Baak’”.

Another band that’s grown a lot since the first time I’ve seen them a couple of years ago is In Vein. Raising Legends has been doing a hell of a job managing them, getting them to play practically everywhere, to the point where I confess I rolled my eyes when seeing their name on this bill. My sincere apologies – it was well deserved. Songs such as “S.A.T.A.N.”, “Paranoia” or “Infinite Night” fueled the headbanging and the horns in the air – singer António Rocha tried to convince the firemen to join the latter at some point, but they just smiled.

Representing a rockier side of metal, we got Nine O Nine, guitarist Tó Pica’s new band. Introducing their debut “The Time Is Now”, released in February, Louro was filled with the enthralling melodies of “Big Event”, “Beauty Femme” and “Sofia” – dedicated not just to all Sofias but to every woman in the audience. Singer/bassist Sérgio Duarte didn’t want us to get the idea that NON were mellow, so they finished their set with the brisker “The Rush”.

The Estrella Galicia stage closed for the moment and the spotlight turned to the main stage, Porminho, with Hills Have Eyes spreading their usual vitality. Fábio Batista’s voice was a bit worn down but he himself was jumping all around, so it made no real difference in the intensity of the music. Plus bassist Luís Silva backed him up, making sure all lines were sung. Splitting their setlist between the two most recent albums, but visiting “Black Book” through “Unneurotic” and the new single “Never Quit”, Fábio thanked the people that probably weren’t much into their sound but still were there, watching them and showing them respect. This and the little speech that always goes along “Anyway It’s Gone”, about music being music, no matter the label, hence they’d never decline an invitation for a “metal festival”.

From metalcore to groove, Equaleft was the epitome of the “may the force be with you” slogan which their singer Miguel Inglês loves so much. They’ve been recording the successor to “Adapt & Survive” and even if the title or release date weren’t revealed yet, a live promotion is running already: “We Defy”, “Once Upon A Failure”, “Strive”, “Endless” and “Overcoming” made part of the band’s set and were tremendously cherished. Still, the highlight was “the lightsabre song” – the classic “Invigorate” – where Sotz’-Dan Vesca was a spontaneous guest. During the last song, “Maniac”, Miguel crowdsurfed while singing and then rewarded the fans with cookies. As usual.

When promoter Aguiar Silva got on stage to address the audience, I thought he was going to introduce the headliners; it was something much more noble than that. In case you don’t know, SepticFlesh come from Greece, where several wildfires have taken about a hundred lives. Portugal went through a similar tragedy last summer, so more than sympathetic with the situation, we related. Therefor when Aguiar asked not for a minute of silence but half a minute of applause for the souls lost in those fires, Louro trembled. Singer/bassist Spiros Antoniou himself would dedicate “Prometheus” to the same souls – after all, in Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to the humans. But before that, songs such “Martyr”, “The Vampire Of Nazareth” or “Prototype” had already left the crowd in total rapture. Spiros dislocated his shoulder a few weeks ago, and even if everything’s okay now, he still couldn’t raise his arm/fist as high as he wished to, so he wanted our help to do it for him. We obviously complied. 10-year-old “Anubis” and last year’s “Dark Art” built the encore of a stellar show.

Mata-Ratos spent almost a decade without any new material but their life on the road rarely took a break – that being the reason why their original schedule on Saturday was anticipated to Friday (something about a show in Spain). “Banda Sonora do Apocalipse Anunciado” was released in 2016, but needless to say that it was songs from almost 20 years ago – “A Minha Sogra É Um Boi”, “Amor Eterno” or “CCM” – that brought out the inner punk in all of us. Singer Miguel Newton still paces the stage through and through like a lion in a cage, but I’ve managed to frame him more clearly – he’s either slowed down a bit with age or I’m just getting more skilled.

Back to the Estrella Galicia stage to watch the final band: only Web to have such a numerous and loud crowd at 2 in the morning. They’ve been somewhat away from the stages, writing the successor to “Everything Ends”, but unlike Equaleft, nothing new was revealed – well, except for the intro, that was a new one. And guitarist Filipe Ferreira’s posture! Web is the band I’ve seen the most in these +20 years of attending metal concerts and this was the first time Filipe made me wonder if they got sponsored by some energy drink. “Vendetta” was the last live song of the night, before António Freitas assumed the role of DJ.

2017 was quite the roller-coaster, hence my somewhat absence. But that doesn’t mean I’ve paid less attention. My live highlights this past year were:

W.A.S.P. at O2 Forum Kentish Town (London)

Infraktor at Metalpoint (Porto)

Equaleft at Hard Club (Porto)

Ugly Kid Joe at AgitÁgueda (Águeda)

Hills Have Eyes at River Stone (Penafiel)

In terms of records I might have been a bit careless, but these titles are awesome nevertheless:

“Heartless Oppressor” by Primal Attack

“1755” by Moonspell

“Infinite Shadows Of Memories” by The End Of Grace

“Hegemony” by Samael

“Medusa” by Paradise Lost

Top-5 videos:

“In Tremor Dei” by Moonspell

“Never Quit” by Hills Have Eyes

“Like Orpheus” by Orphaned Land

“Blood And Chaos” by Paradise Lost

“Black Flag” by Iced Earth

And expectations/anticipations for 2018:

The release of “Exhaust”, Infraktor‘s debut album!

After the single “Never Quit” blowing my mind away, can’t wait to see what Hills Have Eyes will deliver next.

The release of “Dropout”, Breaking Today’s debut EP, and how it will turn out live (pretty dynamic, I’m sure).

Crashdïet have a new singer, Gabriel Keyes, and judging by the first single featuring him, “We Are The Legion”, I foresee a bright future for the Swedes.

Just a few days ago, in what I’ve considered one of their best live shows ever, Equaleft played two new songs, two powerful new songs. Hoping to listen to the rest of this upcoming second full-length album in 2018.

This year it was really REALLY tough to choose just 5 shows (Sam Alone, The Mission and Heavenwood should also be there somewhere):

Hills Have Eyes at Canecas Bar (Paços de Ferreira)

Sonic Syndicate at Göta Källare (Stockholm)

Moonspell at Pavilhão Multiusos (Guimarães)

More Than A Thousand at Time Out Market (Lisboa)

Testament at Coliseu (Porto)

The albums were easier:

“Stand Up, Forward, March!” by Sister

“Confessions” by Sonic Syndicate

“Atoma” by Dark Tranquillity

“When Patsy Cline Was Crazy…” by Ricky Warwick

“Brotherhood Of The Snake” by Testament

My video top-5 is “lighter” than last year’s: two emotional, one a kind of tribute, and two funny as hell:

“The Beat” by Satan Takes A Holiday

“Make It Right” by Hills Have Eyes

“I Apologize” by Five Finger Death Punch

“The Great Disillusion” by Betraying The Martyrs

“Call Me” by Pain

Anticipations/expectations for 2017:

Infraktor – a “gourmet thrash metal” all-star project who I’m proud of being close to, hence keeping tabs on. Let’s see how others will receive them.

Hills Have Eyes – saw some new pictures of the boys in the studio. Needless to say I’m thrilled.

Equaleft – yep, something’s still brewing…

Five Finger Death Punch – “Got Your Six” isn’t my favorite 5FDP album but it’s still good enough. Let’s see if what they’re up to now pleases me more.

Guns N’ Roses – this is a live expectation. I’m having totally mixed feelings about this reunion. Not even sure if I’ll go to the Portugal show, so I’m also expectant on what my final decision will be…

After the announcement of a no-end-in-sight hiatus, the time has come for the “Before We Go” farewell tour of More Than A Thousand. It kicked off last Tuesday in Madrid (Spain), along with their long-term buddies Hills Have Eyes. Swiss hardcore act Promethee would join from the third date on, leaving the two Spanish dates to be supported by Spanish bands. In Madrid, deathcore Cannibal Grandpa had the honors of doing so.Founded in 2013 and having released their debut album, “Feed Your Food”, a few months ago, these youngsters seem to already have a considerable number of followers. Some of them were there, singing along and slamdancing like there was no tomorrow. Well deserved, as Cannibal Grandpa are indeed good in what they do. Too bad the stage was too small, otherwise I’m pretty sure there would’ve been more movement up there. Still, they managed to put up a vigorous performance, living up to the brutality of songs such as “Face To Face”, “Grey Man” or “Legacy”.

More than wanting to say goodbye to More Than A Thousand – I believe I’ll have a chance to do so in our homecountry – I wanted to see/support Hills Have Eyes outside our borders. I was even wearing my “Antebellum” tee, but the venue was freezing (the damn AC was unnecessarily in full mode) and eventually I had to put on my jacket. Oh well.HHE’s setlist was quite even between “Strangers” and the latest “Antebellum”. When you have three amazing albums and you’re not playing as headliners, the choice gets tough, but the guys did a great job, performing the “most mandatory” songs.
“Anyway, It’s Gone” was one of them, although Vasco from More Than A Thousand didn’t join Fábio on the vocals, as he does in the studio version (and often live as well). That was kind of bittersweet – it would have been something to see those two forces together once again, but HHE didn’t have that many fans in the house, and inviting Vasco over would have felt like a cheap trick to win the crowd’s affection. And given the general response throughout the show, they did win it.

When the lights went out, hinting the beginning of More Than A Thousand’s last concert in Madrid, the people clustered so tightly around the stage that it felt like their number had doubled. And then the first echoes of “Feed The Caskets” brought the place down. Like their “brothers” HHE – a title Vasco dearly used more than once – MTAT also focused on just their two latest albums. Nothing against what they’ve played – me and everybody else sang loudly along the whole time – but more like what they haven’t played. As a farewell tour, I was hoping for a longer show and a bit of every phase in their discography (although we did listen to a snippet of “The Red River Murder”, as someone in the crowd screamed for it whenever he had the chance). But it was still an intense goodbye, with Vasco using some funny Spanish expressions he apparently had just learned, or more serious remarks like the song he dedicated to The Ghost Inside and the heartfelt advice about never giving up of our dreams, no matter what/who. Those verses from the chorus in “No Bad Blood” – “this is who we are / these words will last forever” – came truly alive that night.

Hills Have Eyes released their third album “Antebellum” early this month (review here) but gave their fans a couple of weeks to learn the lyrics before presenting it live in two shows – one in Porto and another in Lisboa (Oporto and Lisbon, as you like to call them).

Along with that enthusiastic crowd of 200 people, give or take (I’m terrible with numerical estimations, sorry), three other bands joined the party. First one on stage was Dimension. I’d seen them back in August, at Casainhos Fest, but this was the first time they were playing in Porto, promoting their own debut album “Life Is A Mystery”. The latter has been getting a very positive feedback and their shows are a match, but it took a little while for the crowd to engage completely in their groovy hardcore. Singer Poli himself said he wasn’t “recognizing the people of Porto” (he has played there several times before with his other band Devil In Me). He was also a little disappointed when no one seemed to know about Luaty Beirão, the Portuguese Angolan musician and activist who had been on a hunger strike after being arrested for speaking his mind (the Angolan authorities saw that as an overthrow attempt…). But after Poli enlightened them and dedicated a song to Beirão (“Times Of Grace”, if I’m not mistaken), everybody applauded. Meanwhile the mosh circles had gained strength and the overall response to Dimension had grown intense, so when they finished their set with the title-track of “Life Is A Mystery”, Poli had a big smile on his face.

I confess The Year was a novelty to me, but many in the audience were happily singing along most of the songs, so I’m guessing they have a fair share of popularity. Deserved, for what I could see in this show – not only for the music but for the posture on stage. And the professionalism when facing sudden setbacks – Jaca’s guitar was silent for a while (I saw him fumbling with the wire, maybe it got disconnected, but I’m not sure) and the rest of the band went on playing, singer Johnny jumping around, while waiting for the problem to get solved. Improvisation is always a plus.
They’re working on a new album – two days prior to this show they even released a teaser for an upcoming video/song, “Omotenashi” – but they’ve only played “oldies” that night, like “Karma Farmer” or “Death By Media”.

Ash Is A Robot’s exquisite sound – a kind of progressive post-hardcore, seasoned with synths – may not agree with everybody’s ear, but Hard Club’s audience that night was pretty open-minded and overjoyed with those Hills Have Eyes neighbors (Setúbal, a little south of Lisboa, is turning out a big talent breeder). And even if the music was taking a bit to sink in, singer /keyboard player Cláudio surely got the moves to catch your attention: that guy’s restless! And funny. Like when no one reacted to his mention of supporting the underground national bands and so he repeated it, slowly, with a cursing word in the end. Or when he said they were going to play a new song (don’t think he introduced the title – if he did, I missed it) and so it would be shit. Or when he asked for a wall of death as soon as “the following relaxing moment” was over – the latter being no other than Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. Impossible to stay indifferent.
Like in their self-titled album (the follow-up it’s in the making, by the way), Dado Nunes from Ella Palmer joined on stage to sing “Philophobia Part 1”. And it’s also worth saying that Cláudio joined the mosh pit twice and, unlike last time I’ve seen them, managed to come out of it without bleeding (it seems he needed to go to the hospital after the Lisboa show the next day, though, so I wish him a full recovery soon).

To the sound of a snippet of The Weeknd’s “The Hills” (yes, you’ve got it – the part where Mr. Tesfaye sings “the hills have eyes, the hills have eyes”), the party hosts got on stage and… well, singer Fábio said something about starting a fire before the last song “Strangers”, as that’s precisely its first verse, but the arson lit up right on the first moment of their show. The sound was a bit messy at first (eventually it got straightened out), but the crowd was singing along so loud – myself included – that I believe only a few of us noticed it. And no one cared. The passion HHE put in their performance makes up for any technical detail. After all, as said in the aforementioned album review, I call them “probably the best Portuguese metalcore band” – that includes the live aspect of the thing as well.“A new phase in HHE’s life”, using Fábio’s own words, so they went through all the previous ones – even the one that included a split album with My Ocean and Last Reunion, in the form of the song “Ending The Cliché”. And because a party needs its special guests, this was the first song of the set featuring one – Ricardo “Congas” Dias, from For The Glory. Then Vasco Ramos from More Than A Thousand – a good friend and producer of the band – joined in to his usual “Anyway, It’s Gone”, and also Di Noise gave her beautiful voice to “The Bringer Of Rain”, just as she does in the studio version.
I’ve lost count of how many times we were told “thank you”, not just during the show but afterwards, on social media. But I think I speak for everyone who was there that we’re even on gratitude grounds – we all had a blast of a night. When the time comes to write an overview about 2015, “Antebellum” will be listed as number 1 in my album chart. And this gig of Hills Have Eyes will surely top the live performances.

Formed over a decade ago, I only took notice of Hills Have Eyes early last year. But they caused such an impression, both on stage and in studio, that I’ve been dearly referring to them as “probably the best Portuguese metalcore band” (the “probably” being there just so I won’t sound pretentious – to me, they are indeed the best). So even though my rational side tried to control my expectations, I’m only human and they sky-rocketed pretty much on the same day I learnt a new album was on the way. Luckily for me, these guys seem to never disappoint.

If I had reviewed the debut “Black Book” and the sophomore “Strangers”, both would have got 5 stars; but in “Antebellum”HHE stepped up their game. They’ve always exceled in combining the most in-your-face riffage with the catchiest choruses – probably because even the more melodic passages kept a spunky spirit to them. But here there’s a bigger balance between those elements, producing a more mature sound.

Whenever they’re shredding away like there’s no tomorrow and entwine a certain darkness in the process, in songs such as “Eternal Bond” or “Answers In Blood”; when the heaviness of “Oathkeeper” or “Hide Your Scars” mingles with an upbeat rock vibe; the vibrancy of “Red Serpent” or the title-track; the silky touch of a female voice amidst the sharpness of “The Bringer Of Rain”; the molten guitar solo in “The Outspoken King” or the power in the ballad “Make It Right”; all songs were carefully written, filled with unique details, so that each and every one of them leaves an imprint of its own. What more can a music lover ask for? And when Hills Have Eyes say they’ve put their hearts and souls on this album, as much cliché as it may sound, you just know that there are hardly better words to describe it.

Casainhos is a small village in the central region of Portugal (less than an hour to the north of Lisbon) that has been holding this commendable festival since 2012 – more than supporting/promoting the underground scene, it brings together its different subgenres, showing how metal, punk and hardcore are all part of a big, happy family. Like Poli (Dimension, Devil In Me) would say, a festival for open-minded people, people who won’t judge you, whether you’re wearing black or pink.

Stoner/Southern rockers As They Come opened this year’s edition, at 3:30 p.m. sharp. The punctuality at this fest gets another thumbs-up, by the way. And it proved that 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time for intermission between sets.

Despite the unholy heat, As They Come fans were restless. After all, most of them had contributed to the band’s presence at the festival, by voting in a contest promoted by Rock On Música music shop – the same shop that got a bus and organized a roadtrip from São João da Madeira to Casainhos. Singer Sick Danny even dedicated the last song, “50 Miles”, to the shop owner Vitinha, who was then carried by the crowd. Soon afterwards, that crowd would invade the stage to party up there with As They Come. The fest could have hardly begun in a better way.

Punk rockers Artigo 21 came next and they also had a fair share of fans singing along songs such as “Contradição” (contradiction) or “Espera Por Mim” (wait for me). The band is somewhat recent (2012) but the musicians aren’t exactly kids – at some point, when tuning a guitar took a little longer and someone in the audience complained, one of them said something like “take it easy, we’re old people”. On a more serious note, they announced that bassist Aureo had just become a father, to which everybody applauded. All the best to him and his family!

Another new band featuring veteran members is Dimension. Groovy hardcore “straight outta the nineties” – and for those who grew up in that decade, Poli dedicated the Sepultura cover “Slave New World”. But that was just a bonus, as their original songs, taken from the debut “Life Is A Mystery”, were enough to win the crowd over, proving the band’s worth both on stage and in the studio.

Backflip play a more straight-forward hardcore, with a female lead singer that kicks as much ass as any guy in the same position. Not sure when they were formed, but they’ve played in all editions of Casainhos so far, and their EP “New Ticket, New Journey” was released in 2011, so they’ve been around at least since then. The debut self-titled full-length saw the light of day in 2013 and features a few guests from other great underground bands, but that afternoon it was the crowd who helped Inês Oliveira (and guitarist Pedro Morais and bassist João Vidigal) sing along.

Tales For The Unspoken, on the other hand, had Raça from Revolution Within sharing the stage with them and singing “Taken”, from the band’s second album “CO2”. Their mix of thrash and death and groove metal kept the moshers busy. “CO2” was released in April, so they focused the set on it, but revisited the debut “Alchemy” with “Say My Name” and the usual closing theme “N’Takuba Wena”.

Back to punk rock, Viralata took the stage. A few problems with Ulisses’ guitar cable delayed the show for a few minutes, leading the singer to joke “what a grand start-up”. Their music is great, but it’s the lyrics – amusing as hell – that make them so popular, meaning that if you don’t speak Portuguese, you’ll miss the essence of Viralata. But if you were there, you’d certainly be carried away by the high spirits of both band and crowd. There was even a fan who climbed on stage and sang the lyrics to “Carocho” (if memory serves me well), totally unexpected but welcomed by the band. Huge fun!

Hardcore act Reality Slap latest album, “Necks & Ropes”, dates from 2012 but the band’s been working hard on its successor, hoping to release it this year still. Singer Johnny (or at least I think that’s his name – guys, please add who does what in the band in your Facebook page!) said something about not playing live in a while, but either “a while” is a little less than four months to him, or he meant playing in national territory, as the band toured through a few European countries last Spring. Whatever the case, this return to the stages was flawless, and when Johnny jumped to the middle of the crowd, pointing the mike to the fans, many were eager to take on the singer’s role.

Despite the rich bill of the festival, I confess it was only Hills Have Eyes that made me ride those 190 miles. So I won’t say their concert was the best, as more than presumptuous it would sound biased; but since I had people coming to me in the end – people who had never seen HHE before, despite their +10-year career – saying that now they understood why I liked that band so much, that I had good taste in music, it’s not the fangirl but the reporter that tells you WHAT A HELL OF A SHOW! This was probably the last gig before the release of their third album, “Antebellum”, scheduled for this month, but still only the first single “The Bringer Of Rain” was performed. The title-track of the previous album, “Strangers”, closed their set.

From the metalcore of Hills Have Eyes, the festival moved on to the crust/metal/punk of Simbiose. Formed in 1991, it was the band on the bill with the longest career, after headliners Mata-Ratos (the latter born in 1982). “Trapped” is the title of their latest, sixth album (released in March) and songs such as “Ignorância Colectiva” (collective ignorance), “Acabou A Crise, Começou A Miséria!” (the crisis is over, the affliction has started) or “Modo Regressivo” (regressive mode) are some of the new tunes – with the same old social and political critique – that were part of one of the most brutal sets of the fest.

Devil In Me are among the high-rank Portuguese hardcore bands and it will only take a couple of songs for you to understand why. Once again, Poli brought up the open-mindedness (and lack of it) subject, and staying true to one’s self – how he still loved hardcore now, as a grown man and family man, as much as when he was 15. Adding how much he missed his daughter that night, he invited all parents present to come up front and party. It seems that their new album will be out in October (“Soul Rebel”), but the title-track has been performed live several times now and everybody knew how to scream the chorus verse: “soul rebel… like a lion”.

Angelus Apatrida was the only non-Portuguese band of the fest, old school thrash metal from “country next door” Spain. But they’re part of the family, not just for the solid fan-base they’ve built here over the past years but also for recording a couple of albums here, at Ultrasound Studios, and becoming good friends with many local underground bands. One of the most notorious is Switchtense and singer Hugo Andrade even got on stage to sing “Fresh Pleasure” with Guillermo Izquierdo. Whether they were songs from the new album “Hidden Evolution” or oldies like “Vomitive” or “Give ‘Em War”, the circle pits were as restless as the thrash that was fueling them.

A lot of people left after Angelus Apatrida – not exactly because Mata-Ratos aren’t good at what they do (hardcore punk) but because they haven’t released anything new in eight years, and after eleven bands, half of them performing while the sun burnt at an average of 86ºF, it became easy to dismiss the headliners. But there was still a good handful of survivors, ready to scream their lungs out at classics like “C.C.M.”, “A Minha Sogra É Um Boi” (my mother-in-law is a cow) or “Deus, Pátria E Família” (God, homeland and family).

According to the promoters, circa 800 people attended this fest. Don’t think any had a single reason to be disappointed. I hope this fest will continue to thrive and many more editions will follow. I also hope every country has someone committed to their underground scene like we have Tiago Fresco and his crew here (among others) in Portugal.